Las Vegas Real Estate Career

Virtual Tours are not just for New Listings anymore! Get creative and use this affordable technology for personal promotion and branding , showcasing community amenities and information, just moved announcements for buyers, market yourself as the niche or neighborhood expert, showcase your success, recent homes sold or other accomplishments.

In this post, we’ll discuss four different options to consider for Virtual Tours - Property and Personal Promotion.
Real Estate Shows

• You pay $125 per year and get unlimited tours
• Free 14 day trial - take it for a test drive -you will be up and running in less than 30 minutes!
• Use your digital photos to create Internet Shows in less than 5 minutes
• Very easy to use - simple tutorials to walk you through the process
• Create a 30 second (5 photos) or 60 second (9 photos) video
• Create internet flyers and distribute free to Google Base, Oodle, Trulia, Zillow, Vast Hotpads, Geebo
• Embed (post) your video on your blog, You Tube, craigslist
• Real Estate Shows resources: Blog and How to Videos

VirtualTourStore.com The next generation in custom virtual tours and webmercials from local Las Vegas real estate professional Steve Matthews. We are using this technology to add video agent testimonials and introductory videos of our managers to this real estate career success blog. Watch for the additions in the next couple of weeks.

VHT.com A full service virtual/visual tour company specializing in real estate photography and 360 panoramic tours. VHT provides several options and special pricing for Prudential Americana agents ranging from tours where you upload the photos to a full service, customized tour.

VisualTour.com For a one-time fee of $199.95 for a VisualTour Agent Starter Kit, and a monthly subscription fee of $29.95, you can create and host an UNLIMITED number of virtual tours! These tours can remain online for as long as you pay your monthly subscription fee.

Guest Contributor:  Steven Kitnick

Earnest money is the deposit paid by a prospective Buyer as evidence of their “good-faith” intentions to complete the real estate transaction.  The Buyer is promising to be diligent in their efforts to fulfill the terms of the Residential Purchase Agreement (”RPA”).  Additionally, if the Buyer and Seller agree, the earnest money deposit (”EMD”) may also serve as a source of payment, and act as the Seller’s sole legal recourse, as “liquidated damages,” should the Buyer default, that is, fail to perform in accordance with the terms of the “RPA”.

Earnest money deposits are not required for the creation of a valid and binding “RPA”.  However, it is rare that a “RPA” does not include an “EMD”.  The reason for this is that an “EMD” demonstrates to the Seller that the Buyer is serious about his/her offer. Although the amount of the earnest money deposit varies, it is usually enough to motivate the Buyer to take whatever steps that are necessary to perform as outlined in the “RPA” in the time-frame specified.

The general rule with respect to “EMD” is that the Buyer is entitled to a return of the “EMD” if the transaction does not close through no fault of the Buyer. Conversely, the Seller is entitled to the “EMD” if the Buyer breaches the “RPA”.  However, when a real estate transaction fails, both the Buyer and Seller may claim a right to the “EMD”. 

When a dispute arises here are the Eleven Things Everyone Must Know About Earnest Money Deposits.

1.  The “EMD” may be deposited with an escrow/title company handling the transaction.  They are a neutral third party that follows the Buyer and Seller joint written instructions.

2.  The real estate brokers and their agents have no authority over the escrow/title company.  Thus, they have no authority to direct the payment of the “EMD” to either the Buyer or Seller.

3.  If the transaction is cancelled, the right to the “EMD” will depend on whether there was a default under the terms of the contract, and if so, who is the party in default.

4.  The “RPA” contains a default provision that everyone should be familiar with because it will dictate what happens in the event the Buyer or Seller defaults.

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Looking for online services, classifed ad sites and tools to market your listings on the web?  We’ve compiled a list of websites (most free - some come with a posting fee) to get you started.

The resource guide includes links to Zillow, Trulia, Wanna Network, MLS Online, Propsmart, International Listings , vFlyer, craigslist, Oodle, Google Base, Yahoo Real Estate, Vast, Edgeio, LiveDeal. Postlets, and Hotpads.

Let us know if you have any to add and we will update this list.

Marketing Your Listings Online (PDF)

Marketing Your Listings Online (Word)

One of the best ideas we have incorporated into our training and coaching is a strategy developed by Brian Buffini called “Win the Day.”

The Win the Day Formula

1) Make 5 prospecting, follow-up calls
2) Write 3 personal notes
3) Add 1 person to your database
4) Commit to 2 hours of lead generation activities (which the above are a part of)

Take this formula a step further and expand your personal winning formula to include the specific weekly and monthly prospecting and business-building strategies you have incorporated from your business plan.  Some examples might include:

• Handing out 20 business cards a week while talking to people about real estate
• Conducting 1 open house a week or 3-4 open houses monthly
• Mailing an item of value and/or current real estate market updates to your Sphere of Influence and Past Clients
• Contacting 5 For Sale By Owners or Expired Listings each week and presenting your marketing plan
• Posting 2-3 times a week on your real estate blog

It’s a basic yet often overlooked ingredient for success in the real estate business…previewing and knowing the inventory. In this fast-paced, immediate gratification world, many real estate agents have simply gotten away from previewing available listings and really knowing what’s happening in the market.  Excuses abound, “There’s not enough time in the day”; “It’s not the best use of my time”; “Isn’t that what MLXchange, pictures and Virtual Tours are for?”

The bottom line is you can’t afford to not know the inventory. It is after all the product you are selling - take the time to be the expert in your niche market, farm area, price range, and/or geographical area of town you choose to work.

Major benefits to previewing and knowing what’s available right now:

• You convey confidence, knowledge and expertise with prospective clients when you can talk about properties you have recently shown or previewed.
• You will be able to convert more ad and sign calls when you can discuss the details of a property the prospect called about and elaborate on other properties that may fit their needs better.
• It is the quickest way to learn a new target market or become an expert in an area you intend to farm.

Make Previewing an Ongoing Success Tactic- Try These Ideas:

• When holding an open house, preview all the available listings in the neighborhood
• Schedule at least an hour a week to preview listings, new homes, high-rise projects of interest
• Prior to a listing appointment, take the time to preview the competition
• Attend broker Open Houses and support office caravans or car tours

Understanding the Las Vegas Real Estate Market and being able to present it clearly to your perspective clients is a critical component to your success.  There are numerous local sources for market data and we recommend subscribing to these resources to stay informed and educated:

• Forrest Barbee’s Blog - Our Corporate Broker, Forrest Barbee, maintains a blog on Education, Training and Career Development. He posts a very informative monthly market update - Check out Las Vegas Market Update March 2008.
• Equity Title Market Condition Report - is available every month and tracks key market indicators, trends and statistics.
  • Las Vegas Market Condition Report March 2008
• Equity Title recently produced a graph that defines past peaks and valleys in terms of pendings and contingents. The graph suggests the market is entering a time of great potential for those who are prepared. Pending and Contingent graph